Legendary
by Delibertlee
Summary: Alexandra has just finished Shang training and is off to Tortall. Who know what awaits her there.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own anything except Alexandra and Kenan; the rest belongs to Tamora Pierce.

The hot July sun beat down on the training arena and it's occupants. Inside the enclosure skilled fighters were training in series of unorthodox kicks and punches. Many were tumbling and learning gymnastics. The training grounds were silent except for the sounds of punches and the occasional clang of steel. A sharp whistle blows and the arena becomes a mess of voices and groans. It's now tired trainees collapsing in relief, all except for two figures.

In the corner of the court a young brunette is facing her partner. Her mass of ebony hair is twisted up into an intricate knot that looked as if it should belong on a courtier's head. She was slender, with well-toned arms and legs, that were a tell tale sign of her training. The girl's face was determined and her gray eyes told tales of mischief. She moved with a grace and speed that only a cat had the right to posses, and she knew it.

Her opponent was at ease, and had a soldier's stance. His lean body showed signs of hard work, and near encounters. The man had dark blonde hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to catch every movement. He looked as though he was a farmer just getting done with the days work. He shouldn't have been considered attractive, for all his broken nose and slightly scarred face, but his wide sensual mouth held a smile that thawed even the coldest of court beauties.

As the two circled each other preparing to fight a crowd gathered around them. Youngsters were eager to catch a glimpse of the famed fighter and his student that they had only heard rumors of. The man was legendary in his own right; after all he was the Shang Phoenix, a title that he didn't earn with ease. His student was rumored to be equal or better then her late master, the Shang Unicorn. To top it all off, the pair had been away from the School for 3 years. A period that is almost unheard of. Most Masters took a Shang trainee out for 6 months at the most and then chose another student. This continued on until the student was ready to face their ordeal.

Suddenly the Phoenix sprang to action. He spiraled into a kick and a fury of punches. His student had reacted the moment she saw movement using a back flip to escape the coming onslaught. Once the flip was landed she twisted and brought her leg up to kick out. The rest of the match was a blur of arms and legs. Until suddenly the girl got a strong kick in on her teacher and he stumbled for a split second. Not hesitating she struck again and again not giving him the chance to balance as he fell to the floor. Once on the ground she was on him in a flash, her knee positioned in the small of his back, and a hand on a pressure point as if she didn't trust him to stay down.

"Alexandra you can let me up any time now." The Shang grumbled, now use to his student knocking him down.

"I'm sorry oh wise and strong master but I had to savor the moment, and rub your face in the dirt." Alexandra laughed. "After all, It's not going to happen much more."

With a grin the lithe girl pulled her teacher from the ground.

"You know I never use to have this many back problems," The Phoenix muttered.

"It's the price you pay for living to be 40." The girl taunted.

Smirking the Shang simply shook his head, sweat flying everywhere. Now that the fight was over the crowd was slowly disappearing. Now they could talk.

Steering the girl away from the trainees, her teacher began to worry. Was he right in sending her out this soon, only one other Shang had finished training as quickly as she had. Unfortunately the elders had approved him too quickly and he was killed before the year was out. Now Kenan hoped that he was making the right decision in requesting that the elders approve Alexandra into a full Shang ranking.

Alexandra was never a girl that could sit still when she could be training, so when Kenan got into his brooding moods, she just left him sitting on a log starring into space. Even though she had just fought she could still taste the battle lust in her blood. Shaking her hair out of the bun she decided to go back to the dormitories, no sense in passing out by working too hard again. The last time she worked herself up into a frenzy like that, the elders sentenced her to kitchen duty and easy training for a month. So off she went to the dormitory.

PLEASE review and tell me what you think or if I should continue!


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own anything besides characters you do not recognize. **

**AN: Ages: Kenan (Shang Phoenix) 40, Alexandra 17, Liam 22**

**Characters from Tortall will appear in the 4th chapter, after the initiation in the 3rd, maybe in the 3rd if your lucky.**

The Shang dormitories were located in a circular tower. The building was a modern marvel, virtually impenetrable to attack, not that many would be foolhardy enough to attack the shang school. The Tower was split in half with boys on one side and girls on another, each side had 30 rooms and a bathhouse on the second floor. At the very bottom of the tower, was the common room, which was covered in furniture from all over the world. It was in one of these big imported chairs that Alexandra sat it, staring at the fire for hours.

"Al! When did you get back?" "Well look what the cat dragged in." "I can't wait to see Liam's face when he sees her back." A group of bedraggled Trainees exclaimed at once.

Laughing openly, Al, went to give each of the boys a hug. They had all changed so much since she had last seen them. Especially her brunette friend Rudy, who had commented about the cat. The Rudy she remembered had been a scrawny beanpole with a big mouth, and legs that were too long for his body. Now the man that stood in front of her was a proud, well defined twenty year old with big sapphire eyes and a voice that was almost godly. The male that spoke first was probably the most similar to what she remembered. Adrian still had mouse brown hair and dreamers eyes. He was attractive when he was 16 and he was even more so at 19. But you could tell that though the years had been kind to him physically, he no more had the boyish innocence he once possessed. Finally Alexandra inspected the shortest boy. The blonde was maybe around 5'7 if that, but he could fly over the tallest men if he so desired. His acrobatics teachers had exclaimed that he must have springs in his feet or be part kangaroo to get as high as he does. Silently Al greeted all of her male friends except for one, Liam, who was out with his training master but was due back any day.

The foursome traded tales and adventures for the rest of the afternoon and through dinner until more trainees wandered into the common room greeting Al, and either claiming a chair or a lap. The group was small and the room could have easily accommodated 50 more people, but Shang was getting picky on who they let in to train. Alexandra looked around the room and could see friends that she had made over the past decade she'd lived in the tower. These people were her family, more so then her parents who sent her to Shang as an infant so they could care solely for their fief. A familiar voice pierced her thoughts and she was violently brought back to reality. Liam was home.

With a muffled yell she thrust herself from the chair and ran to hug her best friend. Wrapping her arms around the boy's neck she looked up into his face, and shivered when his cool green eyes met her fierce gray ones. She knew she didn't love him, but it felt damn good to be back in his arms. He was her best friend, he knew more about her then she did. Al stepped up on her tiptoes and began to whisper, "It's good to see you again Li... ymph," but was cut off by him pulling her down towards him, and then again by his mouth covering hers. Al put everything she had in that kiss; it was a homecoming, grounding, and a reconnection that made her veins sing in harmony. Al softly pulled away to breathe, "Well if all your kisses are going to be like that I may have to go away more often."

"Nice to see you to Al," Liam laughed. "Come on the others are staring at us." The two friends made their way back into the group, both red from the catcalls and hoots from their friends.

Smirking Liam sat down and pulled Al onto his lap, joining in on the conversation about training schedules and which sword types were the best. When in Shang, you live and breathe fighting and weaponry, nothing else. As the topic veered to Shang initiations Liam began to tense. Lifting Al up off of his lap he stood and silenced the room with a look.

"I have an announcement, well two actually. As the Shang Fox and I returned from training, he brought me to the council. He proposed that I be judged for initiation into Shang, and the elders approved that I could be tested." At this statement the room erupted into cheers, and whistles. It wasn't often that a trainee was recommended for initiation. Liam once again brought up his hand for silence, and paled slightly. "While I was there, another Shang master was also nominating a student, and the council also approved. The Shang Phoenix was the master and he asked me to tell Alexandra, that she has been approved to advance into initiation." This announcement was met with silence. It wasn't that Alexandra wasn't a good fighter or didn't deserve the honor, but it was unheard of for a trainee her age to be approved for initiation. The only other trainee approved at 17 had been Liam's older brother, Jon, and he had been killed within the year of receiving a Shan title.


End file.
